Romney’s Religious Speech: It’s Coming!

I don’t usually brag about anything. And I suppose I’m not bragging about this because I didn’t quite call that Romney would make the speech per se. I did however, call for the speech. However, I will say that even though what I write has virtually no influence on the Romney campaign, it’s nice to know they followed some of the same advice I advocated in an earlier post.

As we all know, Mitt Romney is a Mormon. As a conservative Christian that could be classified as “evangelical,” I’ll admit that I haven’t always been comfortable with a Mormon president. I do not agree with many of the religious doctrines espoused by Mormons at all. However, I find their moral standards to be virtually flawless, perhaps even enviable. That’s where Mitt Romney and I are on the same page.

But this speech is not about Mormonism. And Romney doesn’t need to make it about Mormonism. We don’t want to hear what Mormons believe from him. This should not be a defense of his beliefs. Mormonism is simply incidental to this situation.

Romney needs to ascertain himself as being in a similar situation to that of John F. Kennedy in 1960. JFK found himself in a similar predicament when America was skeptical about the prospect of a Catholic president. But he delivered a speech that let America know that as President, he would answer to Americans, not the Roman Catholic Church. And from what I understand, Romney and his staff have studied this speech very closely.

If Romney patterns his speech after Kennedy’s or even quotes from it, he will do well. If he lets us know that he answers to America first as President of the United States, he will do well.

This is a turning point for Mitt Romney. If this speech is everything I hope it is, he will effectively take the spotlight off of Giuliani and Huckabee and it will allow him to surge towards the nomination. If this speech is too vague, too specific, or just plain disappointing, this could sink him.

I must say that I am very optimistic about this. This speech could open the doorway for more evangelical support. This is a chance for America to see a more personal side of Mitt Romney.

The speech will be delivered in College Station, Texas (Texas: the same state as JFK delivered his historic speech) on Thursday, December 6th at the George Bush Presidential Library. I hope that this is a speech that makes history.